Reviewed by Dee
TITLE: The Losing Game
AUTHOR: Lane Swift
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 230 Pages
RELEASE DATE: August 08, 2016
BLURB:
Winchester Crown Court, October 2035: Richard Shaw leaves, a free man.
Grief-stricken and angry, Lucas Green is hell-bent on revenge against Richard Shaw, who killed his sister. Lucas has heard of a man who can help—the handsome and urbane owner of a boutique sex shop with a head for planning crimes. But Dante Okoro has a past he’s desperate to keep buried. Though Lucas piques his interest in more ways than one, Dante turns him away. Still, he wonders if he made the right decision….
An unexpected death brings Dante and Lucas together once more. This time they can’t ignore the chemistry between them. But courting a lover with lies is a dangerous game. Dante has been spying on Lucas, convinced he has plans to kill Shaw. Lucas has been spying on Shaw, waiting for the right moment to strike. If Dante admits his suspicions to Lucas, he’ll surely lose him. If he doesn’t, Lucas might do something reckless—and end up losing everything
REVIEW:
First and foremost, I picked this book up based on the tags, mystery/thriller, BDSM. Readers be warned there’s no BDSM between the main characters. Dante owns a sex shop and caters to his customers needs but even his business is very much back-story. So unlike me, do not go into this story expecting BDSM. There are two scenes between the main characters which are as tame as they are brief.
With that out of the way, the central plot to this story is Lucas wanting to extract revenge against the man who killed his sister while drunk driving. Via his friend Avery, he meets Dante. Their first meeting is nothing like either expected. Then when a mutual friend dies, which left me with many questions, not in regard to how she died, but given the era this is supposed to be set in and the leaps in medical advances, I can’t imagine someone succumbing to what she did at the age she was, but hey this is fiction. And apparently in 2053 adults will still be posting their every move on Facebook, something that made it easy for Lucas to track the guy he wanted to harm.
There are a number of interesting side characters, all of whom I would’ve liked to know more about, especially Dante’s adopted daughters. When Lucas ends up in the hospital, he is assigned a bearded nurse. He also works with a girl, Lily, who is wheelchair bound. Something the reader is never allowed to forget. I liked her spirit but didn’t need the constant reminders from Lucas of her chair.
The writing is impeccable, every room described in detail. However for me this story lacked the feels. I never felt a bond between the heroes, was I supposed to? *shrugs* I didn’t feel any overwhelming grief from Lucas, perhaps because the story focused so heavily on his need for revenge.
All in all this was an average read for me; nothing stood out as wonderful or terrible. Besides a few missed words here and there, it’s well edited. Perhaps if I’d gone in with a different mindset, not expecting a nail biting thriller, hot kinky sex, and a futuristic setting I might’ve enjoyed this book a little more.
If you’re looking for a story that’s a slow burn and doesn’t require too much concentration, ‘The Losing Game’ might fit the bill.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: